John Murrell’s Mystic Clan

The Great Western Land-Pirate

Legend says John Murrell’s father was a preacher and his mother took pride in teaching him how to steal, but that is just the first of many claims made about this infamous highwaymen who was once accused of being the mastermind of a criminal organization known as the Mystic Clan.

This minisode is a companion to the episode, McRaven House’s Haunted History.

Additional Links From This Episode:

• Purchase the Feminine Macabre, Vol. 3.

Sources:

Phillips, Betsy. “The Strange Story Behind the State’s Thumb.” Nashville Scene. October 28, 2015. https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pithinthewind. 

“A History of the Detection, Conviction, Life and Designs of John A. Murel, The Great Western Land Pirate.” Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University. 2020. https://library.mtsu.edu/specialcollections/spotlight/2020murrell. 

“John Andrews Murrell (1806-1844).” Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Updated September 29, 2021. https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/john-andrews-murrell-3566/. 

Penick, James Lal. “John A. Murrell: A Legend of the Old Southwest.” Tennessee Historical Quarterly 48, no. 3 (1989): 174–83. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42626808.

McRaven House's Haunted History

“McRaven House is a time capsule crammed with the priceless heirlooms and mementos of every family who ever crossed its threshold…Time travel is possible here; follow in the footsteps of each of the prior inhabitants. If you get lost, they will find you.””

— Barbary Sillery, "The Haunting of Mississippi"

The Most Haunted House in Mississippi…

The McRaven House of Vicksburg, Mississippi has earned a national reputation for the amount of paranormal activity said to occur there.

The home was said to be first built in 1797 as the hideout for a notorious highwayman. Over the next 220+ years, McRaven was expanded twice, survived the brutal Siege of Vicksburg during the Civil War, served as a hospital during that same conflict, and been a home to numerous families.

Largely unchanged since the additions were constructed, each section of McRaven House: Pioneer, Empire, and Greek Revival, remain excellent examples of the architecture and lifestyle of the time that they were constructed. This feat is so unique that in 1963 National Geographic Magazine did a feature on the home, calling it a “Time Capsule of the South.”  Today open to the public for tours, McRaven House serves as one of the most complete and well-preserved homes in Vicksburg from the antebellum era.

Additional Links From This Episode:

• Purchase the Feminine Macabre, Vol. 3.

Sources:

“African Americans and the campaign for Vicksburg.” National Park Service. Updated March 15, 2018. https://www.nps.gov/vick/learn/historyculture/african-americans-and-the-campaign.htm.  

Brown, Alan. Ghosts Along the Mississippi River. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2011.

Brown, Alan. Haunted Vicksburg. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2010.

Carter, Josh and Jacob Gallant. “We spent a night inside the most haunted house in Mississippi. Here’s what we saw.” WLBT. September 29, 2021. https://www.wlbt.com/. 

Coleman, Christopher Kiernan. Ghosts and Haunts of the Civil War. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1999.

Frazier, Terri Cowart. “Haunted History: Several Spirits Supposedly Reside in Vicksburg Home.” The Vicksburg Post. November 19, 2018.https://www.vicksburgpost.com/. 

“McRaven.” McRaven Tour Home. Copyright 2021. https://www.mcraventourhome.com/.  

“McRaven House: Vicksburg’s Most Haunted Mansion.” Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau. Accessed July 30, 2022. https://visitvicksburg.com/. 

Newman, Rich. Ghosts of the Civil War: Exploring the Paranormal History of America’s Deadliest War. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2017. 

Parker, Seth. “The Haunted McRaven / Bobb House | Vicksburg, Mississippi.” Parker Studios (blog). July 28, 2019. https://sethparker.net/haunted-mcraven-house-vicksburg-mississippi/. 

Roberts, Nancy. Civil War Ghost Stories & Legends. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1992.

Shoemaker, Mary McCahon. “Bobb House.” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, November 6, 1978. https://www.apps.mdah.ms.gov/nom/prop/27689.pdf. 

Sillery, Barbara. The Haunting of Mississippi. Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing, 2011.

The Vicksburg Herald. “Are There Ghosts in Vicksburg. A Haunted House.” July 22, 1864. Newspapers.com.

The Ghost Town of Rodney, Mississippi

Lost to time and the shifting currents of the Mississippi River…

It was in 1828 that the town of Rodney, Mississippi was formally incorporated. Located near the Mississippi River, the town would grow to become an essential port for steamboats traveling up and down the river. Rodney became known as a bustling town and thriving entertainment center, even building the state’s first opera house.

The city survived a devastating yellow fever epidemic and was occupied by Federal forces during the Civil War. Yet the death knell first sounded in 1869 when Rodney, Mississippi was almost entirely consumed by fire. Though the town tried to recover, it was unable to.

In 1870, A large sandbar formed in the Mississippi River, causing the river’s flow to shift westwards away from Rodney. Where once Rodney was a port town, an ideal stopping point for steamer ships, just yards from the river, it was now roughly two miles away. The town had lost its port.

And without its port, Rodney lost its residents. Today, all that remains of the once thriving town are the damaged shells of several buildings.

The Singing River

Mississippi’s Most Legendary River

It is said that on warm summer and autumn nights, those standing on the banks of the Pascagoula river may hear the sound of a melodic humming emanating from beneath the river’s dark waters. The origin of the sound is unknown, but numerous legends have been told to explain the mystery of this Mississippi waterway.

Sources:

Barnwell, Marion, ed. A Place Called Mississippi. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1997.  

Cox, Dale. “Mississippi’s Singing River - The Mysterious Song of the Pascagoula.” March 17, 2014. Southern History. http://southernhistory.blogspot.com/2014/03/mississippis-singing-rivermysterious.html. 

Cox, Dale. “The Pascagoula - Mississippi’s Singing River: A Mermaid in Mississippi?” March 16, 2014. ExploreSouthernHistory.com. https://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pascagoula2.html. 

Gayarré, Charles. History of Louisiana: The French Domination. New York: Redfield, 1854. https://books.google.com. 

Norman, Michae and Beth Scottl. Historic Haunted America. New York: Tor Books, 2007.  

Skinner, Charles M. Myths and Legends of Our Own Land: Lights and Shadows of the South. Philadelphia, PA: J.B. Lippincott, 1856. 

Steed, Bud. Haunted Mississippi Gulf Coast. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2012.

The Witch of Yazoo City

On May 25, 1904, a fire broke out in the business district of Yazoo City, Mississippi.  By day's end, the fire had consumed much of the community, leaving nothing but ashes.  Historians believe the fire started accidentally at the home of Herman Wise, but according to legend the cause was much more sinister-- revenge from the infamous Witch of Yazoo.

Watch Brandon tell the story of the "Witch of Yazoo City" live at the Palace Theatre in Gallatin, TN.

The Bride of Annandale

The apparition of a grieving woman purportedly haunts the Chapel of the Cross cemetery in Mannsdale, Mississippi. Legend says this ghost is Helen Johnstone.-- the victim of one of Mississippi's most tragic tales of heartbreak and loss. Days before her wedding in 1859, Helen's beloved Henry Vick was struck down in a duel. The Johnstone family promised to one day bury the grief-stricken young woman in the plot next to her lost love, but unfortunately she was not, thus resulting in the many claims that her spirit will not leave.

Skeleton of Longwood Mansion

In 1860, Dr. Haller Nutt began construction on a palatial estate in Natchez, Mississippi. Unfortunately the outbreak of the Civil War put a halt to progress, leaving Dr. Nutt's vision incomplete for over a century and half.